A disgraced pharmacist has been banned from practicing after he forged prescriptions to get himself highly addictive opiate drugs.
Stephen James Fleck was convicted of making false prescriptions worth nearly £800, General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) hearing documents have revealed.
For nine months he faked a doctor’s signature on 16 handwritten prescriptions and generated 43 using an electronic system. He also changed the pharmacy to one convinient for him in order to collect the drugs for himself.
The crook sought out patients who were already on dihydrocodeine and claimed prescriptions in their names. The opioid is a painkiller that is used to treat moderate to severe pain but can become addictive.
Other opioids include morphine, which is similar in chemical structure to the street drug heroin.
In a hearing, Mr James Fleck admitted that he searched the practice’s clinical system to identify patients that would be less likely to rouse suspicions.
Fleck’s behaviour was described by a Fit to Practice regulator as ‘dishonest’, adding there was a ‘serious breach of trust’ including the unauthorised use of personal patient data.
He selected patients who were over 60, did not pay for their prescriptions and who were already receiving dihydrocodeine.
A disgraced pharmacist has been banned from practicing after he forged prescriptions to get himself highly addictive opiate drug Dihydrocodeine
Documents released by the General Pharmaceutical Council said: ‘Though there was no evidence of actual harm being caused, there were clear indications that patients were put at risk as their medical records were falsified to assist and hide the registrant’s dishonest actions.
‘This was a serious breach of trust and the fundamental principles of the profession such that it brought the profession into disrepute and showed that the registrant’s integrity could no longer be relied upon.’
Fleck once worked as a senior clinical pharmacist within NHS Dorset Integrated Care Board (ICB) and the Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust.
While there he was handed ‘excess drugs’—including the addictive substance—by a patient during a medication review—but kept them for himself.
The hearing concluded: ‘The registrant lacked judgement by putting his personal desires ahead of the concerns and best interests of the patients, and had practiced when not fit to do so.’
The council determined that ‘a suspension ‘would not adequately reflect the seriousness of the misconduct’.
Fleck plead guilty to theft by employee and making false prescriptions, and was convicted at Weymouth Magistrates’ Court last May.
He received a 44-week suspended prison sentence of two years as well as 250 hours unpaid work and costs.
It comes as NHS spending on addictive opioid painkillers has doubled since the pandemic, The Daily Mail revealed.
Doctors have dished out almost £1billion-worth of the drugs over five years, with experts blaming agonising waits for surgery.
Many are reliant on powerful drugs to get by, leaving them at risk of developing an addiction that continues even after their operation.
A recent study showed that longer waiting times caused by covid lockdowns caused a 40 per cent increase in prescriptions for highly addictive opioids.
